Priming Against Procrastination
There are certain things I procrastinate on. When I finally get around to doing the work, I realize the reason I put it off in the first place. The task frustrates me. It’s triggering because it’s difficult.
When you’re triggered by a task, you enter a patterned threat response - fight, flight, freeze or appease. As a result you lose your ability to think rationally. Fear gets in the driver’s seat and unhelpful stories flood your thoughts.
Before you can move into a higher level of functioning, you need to acknowledge you’re in an unhealthy pattern. Then you can prime yourself before tackling such tasks in the future. Similar to the way an athlete stretches before competing, acknowledge the feelings associated with putting off doing the thing in the first place. It might be fear, anxiety, uncertainty, perfectionism, confusion, overwhelm, etc. Once you name it, you can change your attitude about it so you’re set up to succeed.
What task or project have you been procrastinating on? How might you prime yourself to start tackling it today?
Want to learn more about how I prime myself against procrastination?
Read more here.
